Australia Wildlife Guide

You will see kangaroos on almost any drive out of a city, but some places put them in front of you on foot. In Grampians National Park, eastern grey kangaroos graze the sports oval in Halls Gap every evening. At Pebbly Beach in Murramarang National Park on the NSW south coast, they lie on the sand, and at Lucky Bay in Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance they lounge on one of the whitest beaches in the country. Near Canberra, Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and the slopes of Mount Ainslie have large mobs. At Cape Hillsborough near Mackay, wallabies and kangaroos gather on the beach at sunrise, and rangers manage the crowds that come to watch.

Quokkas, the small wallabies made famous by selfies, live in their thousands on Rottnest Island, a 30-minute ferry from Fremantle near Perth. They are wild and protected. You can photograph them as close as they choose to come, but it is an offence to touch or feed them, and rangers hand out on-the-spot fines. Human food makes them sick. The best quokka spots are around the settlement and the shady thickets near the Basin, in the early morning or late afternoon.

Koalas are listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT, so seeing one in a wild tree is a privilege, and it is easier in the south than the north. The most reliable place is Kennett River on the Great Ocean Road, where koalas sleep in the manna gums along Grey River Road, 2.5 hours from Melbourne; the forest around Cape Otway in Great Otway National Park is another strong spot. On Magnetic Island off Townsville, the Forts Walk has the best wild koala odds in Queensland. Raymond Island in the Gippsland Lakes is a free five-minute ferry ride from Paynesville to a street grid full of koalas, and Hanson Bay on Kangaroo Island has a sanctuary walk. Look for a grey lump in the fork of a eucalyptus; they sleep 18 to 20 hours a day.

The platypus is shy, small (about 40 to 50 cm) and active at dawn and dusk. The best wild odds are at Broken River in Eungella National Park, an hour inland from Mackay, where a viewing platform overlooks pools they use most days. On the Atherton Tableland, Peterson Creek in Yungaburra is a good second choice. In Tasmania, the creeks around Latrobe and the lakes at Cradle Mountain have platypus too. Stand still, watch for rings of ripples, and be patient for 30 minutes. For a guaranteed view, Healesville Sanctuary near Melbourne has a platypus house.

Tasmania is the best state for wildlife on foot. Wombats graze in daylight on Maria Island, a car-free island reached by a 30-minute ferry from Triabunna, where they wander around the old convict settlement at Darlington with Forester kangaroos and Cape Barren geese. At Cradle Mountain, the Ronny Creek boardwalk has wombats most afternoons, and pademelons and Bennett’s wallabies come out at dusk around every lodge. On Bruny Island, little penguins come ashore at The Neck after sunset from about September to February, and the island has a population of white wallabies.

Tasmanian devils are endangered by a contagious facial tumour disease, and you are very unlikely to see one in the wild unless you drive back roads at night. See them at sanctuaries that run breeding programs: Devils@Cradle near Cradle Mountain runs evening feeding tours, and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is 30 minutes from Hobart. Drive slowly after dark everywhere in Tasmania; the roadkill count is high.

Kangaroo Island, 45 minutes by ferry from Cape Jervis or a 30-minute flight from Adelaide, packs most of Australia’s animals onto one island. Seal Bay Conservation Park has ranger-guided walks along a beach with Australian sea lions, one of the rarest sea lions in the world. Kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and goannas are everywhere at dusk, and koalas live at Hanson Bay. About half the island burned in the 2019-20 bushfires, including much of Flinders Chase National Park; the bush has largely regrown and the park is open. Give it at least two nights, since most wildlife is active at dawn and dusk.

Phillip Island, 90 minutes from Melbourne, is famous for the Penguin Parade: each night at sunset, little penguins, the smallest penguins in the world, waddle ashore across Summerland Beach to their burrows. General viewing costs AUD 34 (about US$22) for adults; arrive an hour before sunset, and bring warm clothes even in summer. Photography and filming are not allowed at the parade. On the same island, the Koala Conservation Reserve has treetop boardwalks, and the Nobbies looks out to Seal Rocks, home to Australia’s largest fur seal colony. If you are in Melbourne with no car, the breakwater at St Kilda pier has a free little penguin colony after dusk.

The Great Barrier Reef runs about 2,300 km along the Queensland coast. From Cairns and Port Douglas, day boats go to the outer reef for snorkelling and diving with green turtles, giant clams, reef sharks and Maori wrasse; a full-day trip costs roughly AUD 250 to 350 including the reef charge, gear and lunch. In June and July, dwarf minke whales visit the Ribbon Reefs north of Port Douglas on liveaboard trips. In the far south of the reef, Lady Elliot Island and Heron Island are coral cays where you walk off the beach to snorkel with turtles and manta rays. Green and loggerhead turtles nest on these islands and at Mon Repos near Bundaberg from November to March, with hatchlings from January to April. The reef has suffered repeated mass bleaching events, so ask operators where the healthiest sites are this year.

Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia is smaller but sits right off the beach. From Exmouth and Coral Bay, tour boats take you swimming with whale sharks from mid-March to July, the most reliable whale shark encounter in the world, with spotter planes finding the sharks. Tours cost around AUD 450 to 650. Humpback whale swims run from about August to October, and manta rays are seen year-round at Coral Bay. Swimmers must stay at least 3 m from a whale shark’s head and body and 4 m from the tail.

Tens of thousands of humpbacks migrate up the east coast each winter to calve in the tropics. Hervey Bay in Queensland is the best place in the country: the whales rest with their calves in the sheltered water behind K’gari (Fraser Island) from late July to early November, and boats often have whales come right up to them. In Sydney, cruises from Circular Quay and Manly run May to November, and you can see whales from the clifftops at North Head and the Bondi to Coogee walk. In Western Australia, Augusta and Albany get humpbacks and southern right whales from June to September. Southern right whales calve close to shore at Logans Beach in Warrnambool and the Head of Bight in South Australia from June to October.

Saltwater crocodiles grow to 6 m and live in rivers, billabongs, estuaries and coastal water across the north, from Broome through Darwin to Queensland as far south as about Rockhampton. In Kakadu National Park, the sunrise Yellow Water cruise near Cooinda is the classic way to see them, alongside birds and wild horses. Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River has crocodiles waiting for fish at high tide; watch from the viewing platform, never the causeway. From Darwin, the Adelaide River “jumping crocodile” cruises dangle meat from poles to make crocs leap, which is popular but not to everyone’s taste ethically. In Queensland, Daintree River cruises from Daintree village see crocodiles sunning on the banks, best in the cooler months of June to August.

Each state runs its own parks, so passes do not transfer between states. Check the relevant parks website before you go, since fees rise most years.

Holding a koala for a photo is banned in New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT and Tasmania, and Queensland phased it out from July 2025, with Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane ending cuddles in 2024. A few parks in South Australia and Western Australia still offer it; the animals are stressed by repeated handling, and standing next to a koala for a photo is the better option. Rules change, so check the sanctuary’s current policy.

Australia’s dangerous animals are real but rarely a problem for visitors who follow local advice. Rips at the beach and kangaroos on the road injure far more travellers than snakes or sharks.